“She has a phone.”
“She’s not answering.”
“That should be a sign she doesn’t want to hear from you.”
Nolan realized exactly who Cam had called when he glanced over his shoulder to see Hope’s Subaru coming up over the rise.
As soon as she parked and climbed out of her car, Darren leaned into the metal barrier gate. “Hope! I need to speak with you.”
“If you walk around that gate, you will be arrested and charged with trespassing,” Nolan warned. “This is your one and only warning.”
Darren ignored him. “Hope! You owe me that much!”
“You don’t owe him anything,” Cam said with his expression hard and his hands balled into fists as she joined them.
With her features grim, her eyes slid between Cam and Nolan before fully focusing her attention on her ex. She shrugged. “So talk.”
“Not here. Not in front of these people.”
These people.
What did Hope ever see in this cretin?
“I don’t think we have anything to talk about. You made it clear with what you believed about me, my career, and about working here before deciding to give up on us.”
“I’ve had time to reflect—” When Nolan snorted, Darren scowled at him. “See? This is why we need to speak in private.”
“We don’t need to do anything, Darren.”
Nolan silently cheered at her response.
“Are you willing to throw away everything we had?”
Her mouth dropped open. A second later it snapped shut. “Me?I’mto blame?”
A muscle jumped in Darren’s clean-shaven cheek. “Please, just give me a chance and hear me out.”
Before Hope could respond, Cam pulled her away and stood between her and her ex. Nolan stepped up next to Cam, creating a wall to block Darren’s view.
“If you go with him, one of us is going with you, Hope.”
“He’s not going to hurt me,” she assured Cam. “Maybe if I let him have his say and I’m clear that I’m no longer interested, he’ll leave me alone.”
Oh, sure. Nolan wondered how many women thought that and ended up regretting it afterward. If they were still alive to regret it.
“I don’t like this.”
Nolan agreed with his lover. “I don’t, either.”
Hope sighed. “Well, then we all agree, but unless I squash this, he might not give up.”
“I’ll squash him for you,” Cam growled.
“No, you won’t. He’s not worth losing your freedom or your job. Or your self-respect. I can handle this.”
“Hope,” Nolan started, not comfortable with herhandlingwhat appeared to him to be an unreasonable man.
She lifted a hand. “It’ll be fine.” She yelled over to Darren. “Because we have a past, I’ll give you a few minutes of my time.”
